The BFG Trail and Other Free Things to Do in London with Kids This Summer

Last week I headed up to London with my two children. We had arranged to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law and their two. They were coming in from Bristol for a day trip and to do a bit of sightseeing. One thing that we wanted to do with them was hunt for some of the BFG Dream Jars. I had heard about these in the media and Max is reading the BFG at bedtime at the moment. So we thought it would work well.

You can check the map of the jars online, so we chose an area where there were going to be a few of them (as well as some tourist spots to see). We chose the central Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Park area. There are quite a lot in the London Bridge area and a few more spread out in West London, if you were looking to go.

We would get to the rough area of where it is and then leave it to the kids to hunt for the jars. The Trafalgar Square one is on a roundabout, though, so took a little more caution there! They were all excited to see the jars and we talked about who had designed the jar and what it had said about them.

The Duchess of Cornwall’s Dream Jar in St. James’s Park

Team GB’s Jar in Trafalgar Square – perfect timing with the Olympics!

Niall Horan’s (from One Direction) Dream Jar at the entrance of ‘the View from the Shard’

I do love playing tourist from time to time in London – my favourite city to be in! The Dream Jars are going to be in the locations intel 31st August. So get in there quick if you want to see them.

There are so many other things to do with the kids in London this summer. Here are just a few ideas:

Museums

It goes without saying that there are plenty of fantastic museums to visit with children. The National History Museum and the Science Museum in South Kensington are the most child-friendly, I would say. The British Museum is also a good option. Again, this is free to visit. There are plenty of little workshops that you can book your children in for too. Including craft ‘Little Feet‘ workshops for under 5s.

Sky Garden

You can go up the 35 floors height of the Walkie Talkie building and visit the garden that is at the top. There is a huge range of exotic plants to see, as well as the views from up there. It is free to visit, but you do need to book a time slot in advance.

Splash Pads

You don’t need to head to the coast on a sunny day in London, as there are plenty of free splash pads around the city. We visited the one on the Southbank last week and had a great time. There are so many around London, though. Including the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Princess Diana Memorial Park and in the garden of the V&A Museum.

Changing of the Guard

I am not going to lie, the changing of the guard is a busy time. There are a lot of people, so it might not be the best with younger children and pushchairs. All the pomp and ceremony is fun, though, and seeing all of the horses marching down The Mall.

20 Comments

We love the installation trails in London. We did the elephant one a few years back. Sky garden and changing of the guard are on my bucket list. You realise how amazing your city is once you move away. Wish we had done more touristy things when we loved there #citytripping

I love tracking these kinds of things! Last year it was the book benches, if I recall correctly, and I’ve tracked Wenlock and Mandeville, the elephants and the eggs too. Oh! And the telephone boxes. I was very sad to not have a weekend free to track down the BFG jars – thanks for blogging about it. #citytrippingMandy recently posted…Kentish Lavender: A Visit to Castle Farm

I love this concept! You found some really fab dream jars – particularly the Team GB one. Great experience. I didn’t realise the V&A had a garden. Natural History gets a big tick from me and I like the Museum of London too. Corams Fields and Vauxhall City Farm are also great. Thanks for linking to #citytripping

My apologies in advance if this is a dumb question but I’m new at this. Is that beautiful layout of pictures with the text sideways that expands part of the wheat template?I looked at sites made with the wheat template and they don’t seem to have that. That looks like something I could really use on my site. Can you tell me how to get it?ThanksSarah

Some great ideas – I still haven’t had chance to check out the dream jars yet but it’s a fantastic idea. The river is one of my other top picks with kids, especially when it’s hot. #citytrippingCathy (Mummytravels) recently posted…City Tripping #41